* This post is close to my heart and I find great purpose in my life from my experience participating in just one of the weekly protests held in Bil'in, Palestine. If you have the opportunity to read until the end I would consider it a personal favor not just to myself but also to the people who were willing to let me be a part of their cause.
**I was apprehensive to post names or photos of Iyad & his family but decided to googled his name only to find several articles, videos & photos so I’ve decided to post mine as well. I hope this helps the cause and doesn’t hinder his or his family’s efforts.
How I came to participate in a protest in Palestine
The main reason for our trip was to meet with contacts in hopes that UVU could set up some kind of study abroad or exchange program (which since then has come into fruition.) Aaron was affiliated with the school and I was affiliated with him and the passion to learn and travel. Not to mention I knew the opportunity to travel to the Middle East with someone else who’d been before, with previous contacts and on behalf of an American university (which meant if something went terribly wrong someone with a little ‘umph’ would be looking for us)
There is a town on the West Bank of Palistine in Israel named Bil'in (pronounced Bill-in) and since 2005 the city has had weekly protests every Friday afternoon. The protests continue to gain media attention and international support and participation. We were scheduled to be in Israel for two Fridays however one of them was Christmas Day and we really wanted to be near Bethlehem & Jerusalem which left us with protesting the day after I got to Israel. I knew it would be a real shock to arrive and go straight into protests but it felt like the better option and we definitely knew we wanted to participate.
I definitely lucked out because my travel partner/school mate Aaron had been to the West Bank earlier that year and already had a lot contacts for places we wanted to go, organizations and families we wanted to meet.
Arriving in Bil'in
We arrived in Bil’in Friday morning December 18th (Exactly 2 years ago, isn’t that convenient) starting with a cab ride from our contacts friend, I wasn't exactly sure where we were going and what to expect but Aaron seemed cool & confident so I just tried to follow suit. I couldn’t have been more happy and exhilarated to head into this adventure & a tad bit daunted at the opportunity!
I think I’d expected it to be more of a gathering of men in a simple room with chairs talking about religious freedom and the Israeli occupation but instead we were warmly welcomed into Iyad Burnat’s home, and were the first of many international participants to arrive and got to spend time with Iyad’s children.
Not only is Iyad the head of the Friends of Freedom and Justice -Bil’in and is also a father of four. His wife graciously opens their home and makes lunch every Friday for the visiting participants. We’re invited by his three young sons and the sweetest little girl to come play with them until our meeting begins. They were playing a game similar to Tetris and loved teaching and watching us play. I am not a video gamer to say the least so this made it that much more entertaining for them to watch my feeble attempts to beat a children’s game. I was completely surprised by the children and their positive and happy demeanor; it made me think of how I could be doing this very same thing with my nieces & nephews.
After a short while more visitors started to arrive including an author, travelers, and a tour group who happened to know some of the same people Aaron did through Interfaith Peace Builders delegation whom he’d come to the Middle East with before. Such a small world! We were called into the living room to join the other guests for tea and to hear Iyad tell us about Palestine’s struggles, the West Banks Struggles, his city’s struggles, his own and his family’s struggles.
Iyad, as you can imagine poses a threat because he is willing to stand against the occupation and therefore is targeted by the Israeli army. To protect himself and his family Iyad doesn’t sleep most nights due to stress and when he does he will often stay in a nearby village and not at his home in case the soldiers raid the town which happens frequently.
We discuss the reasons for the protests, which I will try to explain as simply as possible without getting into too much detail. Please keep in mind I am not an expert nor do I have THAT much knowledge about the conflict and history of the area so this is all according to me and I welcome your polite corrections and/or opinions that you'd like to share.
In 2002 Israel began building a barrier wall most commonly referred to as the Apartheid Wall (a wall to segregate groups) and in doing so Bil’in lost half its land to an Israeli Settlement (these are areas of land taken only to house Israeli citizens most of which are newly built on Palestinian land and are given dependable access to water, electricity, transportation and healthcare) Reasons like this are why I am such an advocate for Kiva. In 2007 after taking their complaints about the barrier wall and the loss of their land Israel’s highest court ordered the settlement to stop building and to move the wall back... The wall has still NOT been moved. This is why they protest.
Israeli soldiers use tear gas (canister pictured above) and rubber coated bullets (pictured above and below) as well as water jets to disperse the protesters. Several deaths and injuries occur due to inhalation as well as being hit by the tear gas canisters which are shot at the crowd not just thrown.
What about the children born into this conflict?
Through the meeting his little daughter (pictured below) sat on my lap laughing, playing, and taking pictures with me. She doesn't speak more than 5-10 words of english but we manage to giggle and connect without any words.
I am COMPLETELY taken aback by this little girl.
What kind of life will she lead?
How long will her innocence and loving nature last?
Will she grow up to hate her Israeli neighbors?
Will she have the opportunity to go to school?
Will she live to one day get married or have children of her own?
Will her family live long enough to see her get married or have children?
My heart breaks for her. There are SO MANY wonderful, happy and beautiful things in this world that are kept from her and there is nothing I can do to save her from this life. I look at this picture of us and IF I let my mind contemplate the life she is destined to live to no fault of her own it leaves me in tears (yes, I am crying as I write this post).
There is NO WAY to shelter the children born into this conflict from the hatred and racism that has enveloped their past, present and future. Palestinian citizens on the West Bank are very restricted to how far from their homes they can go because of check points that the Israeli government regulates. This affects their access to education, entertainment, healthcare, family, friends, work, and commodities. Sure they can apply for approval, but it’s arbitrary and isn’t a guarantee that the solider working will feel like upholding their pass. Every aspect of their life is at the mercy of the Israelis.
The protest begins
The protest begins by marching from one end of the town through the main road to the other side where the apartheid wall is being built. Our meeting in interrupted by one of his sons informing us the crowd has started walking towards the barrier and soon will be passing the house so we begin to get ready.
Butterflies start to flutter in my stomach and soon are soon in my throat as emotion starts to fill me. I’m overwhelmed with the weight of the experience.
I live for moments like these.
Aaron was at the front of the group, ready for action since he'd been before and had an idea of what to expect. I however, decided to hang in the back with the writers and older visiting participants wanting to get a better idea of what to expect. I'd promised several people back home I would be safe, since I refused to miss the protest altogether I figured this was the least I could do. It isn’t long before I want to get closer, after all this is a rare opportunity I don’t want to miss it. As you can see I got pretty close.
You can see just a few Israeli soldiers to the left in the picture above protected and armed. Some protesters wear gas masks, face covers, and doctor masks but most that do aren’tlocal protesters.
The protesters get pretty close and start to push back the gate, this is pretty standard.
Tear Gas
It isn’t more than 5-10 minutes before the soldiers start sending projectile canisters (just like firing a grenade) filled with tear gas. This scares me. I know virtually nothing about tear gas but I know that as far as chemical warfare is concerned tear gas is weak sauce. I don’t want to get close but I am open to the prospect of feeling it a little, keep in mind I wasn’t trying to inhale it, but I accepted that it was likely to happen.
After snapping a few photos I decided to take some video and soon after I start filming out of my peripheral vision I see something land near me (roughly 3-5 feet) and soon white smoke appears. I hurry and run away but It’s too late. I’m coughing before I even know the smoke has reached me and I am booking it to the back of the crowd.
What is tear gas like? Its like having onions rubbed directly in your eyes, drinking vinegar with open wounds all down your throat and having no lungs at all and your body & skin kinda tingles or stings. pleasant right? NOT
It makes it difficult to run away with little oxygen but at this point adrenalin owns my body and switches into survival mode. I remind myself its only a matter of time, I’ll be okay and that soon this is just going to be a great story! Many protesters are carrying bandanas or napkins that are wet to breath through and many hand me lemon slices and onion pieces to chew on. It helps, very slowly, but it does.
This is the view as the protest rages on and I am at a very safe distance now, recovering and wishing I hadn't fled so far.
As the protest is ending many of us who had run away hurry back to those who stayed till the end giving what we'd been using to lessen the effects of the tear gas. Aaron is grateful for having me save him a few onion slices someone else had graciously given me. My new friends and several of the locals tease me for having run so quickly and not 'getting dirty' I laugh back after a few moments of confusion wondering if they were seriously teasing me for not getting enough tear gas exposure.
This may have been a once in a lifetime experience for me, but this is their life. They do this EVERY FRIDAY. Here I think I'm brave and find this story a great addition to my arsenal of great stories but really, I’m lucky to have been a part of it and to know what true dedication and strength is. The citizens of Bil’in taught me to recognize how important their fight is and the value of standing against our oppressors.
Wondering what you can do? Learn about the conflict, read the stories, share the stories, educate anyone and everyone you can, share this post, help me share my stories and my perspective. You can address a problem if you don't know there is a problem.
KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATON IS EVERYTHING.
I sincerely appreciate your reading this post to the end. If you have any feedback I'd love to hear it and if you'd prefer to send it one-on-one please send me an e-mail and i'd be happy to respond that way as well.
Did you know about anything I posted before you read it? What is your reaction to this post? Do you have any experiences with this region you’d be interested in sharing either in the comments or even as a guest post at a later date? I’m curious to know compared to how I read and feel about this post what my readers think as well.
The conflict in Israel and Palestine is close to my heart and if you have ANY questions please leave them in the comments below, I would love to write more posts on the topic but want to make sure its something my readers are intersted in hearing more about.
Thank you!- sharing my experiences and stories means the world to me! (literally!)
